City Settles with RWQCB over Alleged Illegal Discharges into Solstice Creek During the Controversial 2008 Bridge Replacement

• Municipality to Pay $30,000  but Refuses to Admit Wrongdoing

BY BILL KOENEKER

The City of Malibu and the Regional Water Quality Control Board have ultimately entered into a settlement agreement after the RWQCB staff alleged the erosion control and drainage practices employed by the city during construction of the Corral Canyon Road bridge over Solstice Creek in 2008 were inadequate and resulted in illegal discharges into state and federal waters.

Those alleged discharges can result in the board imposing fines.

Initially, a complaint was issued and a civil fine in the amount of $62,375 was imposed on the city. After discussion between state and the city, the amount was reduced to $30, 915.

However, a dispute arose between the city and the state agency over the allegations, with the city deciding to challenge the  findings, according to RWQCB documents.

Later, both parties agreed to settle. The state and the city gave recitations of what they believed happened and, in effect, agreed to disagree, but the city, according to the settlement papers, admitting to no wrongdoing.

Under the settlement, the city agrees to pay $30,000 to resolve the complaint.

The bridge replacement project, completed in fall 2008, was intended to “improve the migration of steelhead trout in the Solstice Canyon Creek Watershed” by “removing barriers preventing fish passage and migration into the rich riparian habitat of the Solstice Canyon Watershed,” a city staff report states.

The project included the demolition, removal and replacement of the old concrete bridge located on Corral Canyon Road just north of Pacific Coast Highway.

Additional work on the project included “road improvements, riparian re-vegetation, landscaping and irrigation work.”

Project funding included grants from the State of California Department of Fish and Game, Wildlife Conservation Board and State Coastal Conservancy, as well as contributions from the National Parks Service, Caltrans and Heal the Bay.

The final cost of the project was reportedly $1.6 million. The city  contributed  $239,000 of the total.

The project drew criticism from Corral Canyon residents who stated that they depend on the bridge for access to their homes, and emergency evacuation during disaster.

It also received opposition from critics who claimed that, even with improved access, the creek was unlikely to provide adequate habitat for the endangered steelhead trout.